Your children are better off without ALP - Registered Behavior Technician Autism Learning Partners Employee Review

Dear reviewer and team member, We understand that it takes courage and conviction to be able to share concerns, and we appreciate and earnestly consider the concerns you have raised. Our leadership team is available to discuss these topics in detail (and we work to share with our teams on these topics, via townhalls, newsletters, and monthly professional development events). For those who may be reading this review, we feel there are a few crucial points to clarify. Regarding the experience level of behavior technicians, the level of experience and training required to directly administer this beneficial service is set by the industry governing board and the insurance companies/school districts that provide our funding; the current requirements encompass an expansive task list of training topics, and additionally ALP provides training sessions with technician’s clients in order to deliver practical, competency-based training beyond what is required from the certification board. Regarding the founding of ABA, it is a common misconception that Ivar Lovaas founded ABA; in fact, Applied Behavior Analysis is considered to be founded by BF Skinner, with applications defined by Baer, Wolf, and Risley. Simply put, ABA is a scientific approach to improving environments so that everyone can thrive in ways that matter to them personally. While Lovaas was the first to demonstrate that autistic* children (*using language largely preferred by the autistic community) could attend public school and have a less restricted lifestyle rather than be confined to a lifetime of (often abusive) institutional settings, his early ABA-based work included harmful techniques that are not at all a part of contemporary ABA. To your last point, ALP actively collaborates with neurodiverse experts, self-advocates, and content creators to create trainings and protocols that are compassionate, assent-based, and neurodiversity affirming, and we are working to provide collaborative, client-centered care for all we serve. We are sorry you had a poor experience, and we appreciate your feedback.